The 2000 US mini-tour for Mark Lanegan
(acoustic, sit-down shows, except June 30)
Please scroll down for fan reviews

Mark Lanegan – Vocals
Mike Johnson- Guitar
Ben Shepherd- Bass/guitar
Duff McKagan – Guitar (at the Sky Church show)
June 30th full band included Mark Lanegan – vocals
Mike Johnson – Guitar
Ben Shepherd – Guitar
Alan Davis – Bass
Bill Rieflin – Drums

30 June, 2000 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox
with 764-HERO and Carrissa’s Weird
scroll down for all reviews

review by Neil

I can’t even begin to describe how unbelievable last night’s show was. All I can say is that I strongly recommend doing whatever it takes to get your hands on a bootleg. Mark has never sounded better, and he treated a packed house to an intense set that moved from a variety of covers to his own material. He sang with unmatched intensity, but looked relaxed and even made a few wise cracks between songs. (At one point he looked frustrated as he searched for a towel. Finally spotting one on top of the kick drum, he picked it up, shook his head, smiled, and said something like, “Well, howdy, asshole. It was right there the whole time!”)
The band consisted of Mike Johnson (acoustic and electric guitar), Ben Shepherd (electric guitar), Alan Davis (bass), and Bill Rieflin (drums). They performed flawlessly. Mike added some scorching guitar solos, especially on Borracho and one unknown (new?) song. Mark Hoyt came out to contribute backing vocals on Badi-Da. The set included some unknown songs, two of which were obviously covers (including a country song), and a couple more that might have been Mark’s.
The highlight of the show was On Jesus’ Program, which was even better than the album version (believe it or not), building to an intense climax instead of fading out at the end. After playing for more than an hour, Mark and the band came back for two encores. Given the strength of the performance and the appreciation of the crowd, I’m sure Mark will want to do this more often. If enough people find out what an amazing show he puts on, he might have to.
Here’s what they played — based on my sketchy (and almost illegible) notes, as all of the setlists had been swiped before the band even left the stage.
Carry Home
Badi-Da
Creeping Coastline of Lights
I’ll Take Care of You
Consider Me
Together Again
(unknown)
(unknown)
On Jesus’ Program
Boogie Boogie
(unknown)/The River Rise
Pendulum
(unknown)
(unknown)
Bell Black Ocean
Hotel
first encore:
Mockingbirds
Borracho
second encore:
Where Did You Sleep Last Night

review by Angela

I think Neil pretty much summed up how I felt about last night’s show. “On Jesus’Program” was so amazing that I literally turned around and mouthed “wow” to Neil when it was over. It was as intense and moving as you could hope Mark to be. I can add that one of the unknown songs was called “A Taste of Honey” – It was one of the only ones I could see on the set list. The lyrics were something along the lines of “your kisses are sweeter than wine”.
Mark also said before one song “this is an old song” then paused and said “peformed by some old people” and then by God – he smiled! More than once!
For you Ben Shepherd fans (and you know who you are…) Ben was looking dapper and happy (exchanging smiles with the drummer) as he created these weird noises/feedback on his guitar. Caught him looking at the setlist once and saying “fuck! fuckin’A!”. I wondered if they hadn’t snuck a song in on him! He played Borracho with a broken string.

review by Christopher
I got to the Showbox around 8:45 and after a quick pitstop, wandered up to the bar area, and found Doug (my best friend who had already found Pedro, Mark’s ex brother in law). I caught up with Pedro & Doug for the hour before the first band came on. Saplings wise, I met up with Neil and friend in the bar, then saw Angela just before and after Mark’s set. Celebrities included Mark Arm, Dan Peters, and Krist Novoselic.
I won’t be shy about my feelings towards Carissa’s Weird (first band): I fucking hate them. But for tonight at least that didn’t matter much, since from where I was in the bar, they didn’t even play loud enough for anyone to fucking hear. 764-Hero (second band), on the other hand, I have a couple of their CD’s, and they don’t do much for me, kind of droning on and on, BTS style. But live, the guy really was alive and screaming for 6 of the 8 songs, I would see these guys again.
So, then it was time for Mark, and it got really hot in there all of a sudden, I started sweating, and some yokel walked up front next to Neil and spent the rest of the show being a complete fucker. Aside from him the crowd was really into it……and I don’t think I’ve ever seen either Mark or the Trees play for as long as he did last night.
Here is the setlist, stolen from Neil with a few lyrical notes:
Carry Home
Badi-Da
Creeping Coastline of Lights
I’ll Take Care of You
Consider Me
Together Again
(unknown) has lyrics “a taste of honey…much sweeter than wine.”
(unknown) has lyrics “seen you found somebody new”
On Jesus’ Program (rocked, amazing)
Boogie Boogie
(unknown) possible new intro to River Rise, has lyrics “watching the summer.”
The River Rise
Pendulum
(unknown) has lyrics “passion play” loud on electric guitars
(unknown) has lyrics “promise me…seem like a miracle.” possibly the end of above.
Bell Black Ocean
Hotel
first encore:
Mockingbirds
Borracho
second encore:
Where Did You Sleep Last Night

13 October, 2000 – Experience Music Project, Seattle, WA

review by Mark

I have seen Mark perform at least 25 times in the last 14 years; 5 solo. Now that he is healthy, his live voice is more powerful than ever. Without question, the most powerful live instrument I have ever seen.
Sky Church, the EMP venue, was a real loser. No alcohol, smoke or other rock friendly vices were allowed on the floor – and all those McHeadsetted black turtlenecked doofusses telling everyone what to do….. Further, the venue was Showbox sized but with 100 foot ceilings: any intimacy that may have existed in the songs was lost in the venue. The crowd was also imperfect. Past shows have consisted largely of huge Lanegan fans. Tonight it seemed mixed between Seattle Weekly readers and real fans. There were not nearly enough hoots of “Mark Fucking Lanegan” or cries for “Ugly Sunday.”
These criticisms aside, Mark delivered the goods. His voice was as good as the June, 2000 Showbox show. His band included Mike Johnson, Ben Shepherd and Duff McKagan. I couldn’t see who was playing bass, but I think it was Ben. In all honesty, Mark’s band was not as good as previous bands – including the band in June – they simply did not seem as tight. Mark thanked them for getting together “on such short notice,” but there were definitely glitches. It should also be noted there was no drummer. Mark said that he had prepared for an “intimate venue,” but he thanked us for coming out any way. It seemed as though he wished he had a drummer to fill this large room — I would’ve loved the reappearance of Dan Peters…. but that’s another story.
Mark worked through a one hour-plus set, drawing heavily from the last album and sprinkling new tunes – which seemed like covers – in the mix. Revisited classics included: River Rise and Winding Sheet (which blended into Because of This). The show had great pacing, but it must be said that it wasn’t loud enough. Mark was really belting it out, but I could still hear the dot.commers behind me talking about their stock options. The encore consisted of just Johnson on guitar and Lanegan. Lanegan stated they were “relearning the songs right in front of us” and he declined to sing a couple of songs that Johnson started to play. In the end, the encores consisted of Mockingbirds and Last One in the World.
In sum, this was a great show, but not the best Lanegan show I have seen. His voice keeps getting better and his live song selection is great, but I wish his band would practice more together before the shows. The 95 band is memorable because of great talent and the 98 tour stands out still as the high point of musicianship because they had the benefit of an entire tour. I hope Mark forms a touring band again (with Mike Johnson) because his music deserves the effort and his fans will gladly soak it up.

Mark Hentschell, One week after the show.

review by Neil
(reprinted from the onewhiskey mailing list, with permission)

Here’s a brief report on last night’s show in Seattle. It was another amazing show, which probably goes without saying. Mark was backed by Mike Johnson on electric guitar, Ben Shepherd on bass and acoustic guitar, and Duff McKagan on acoustic guitar. It was more of a stripped down semiacoustic thing this time, like the ’98 Deck the Hall Ball show — and as they had done at that show, Mark sat on a stool in the back and the other guys sat on chairs in front of him. Everyone seemed very relaxed, and they joked around between songs. Looking around the cavernous EMP Sky Church (which was packed to capacity), Mark commented that they were expecting a more intimate venue. But despite the size, the sound was excellent. I can’t remember the exact set list this time, but it was many of the same songs they played at the Showbox in June.
One addition that stands out was what started out as The Winding Sheet and went right into Because Of This. There were two songs I hadn’t heard Mark sing before; I think they were covers, and one of them sounded familiar, but I don’t know what either of them was. Maybe someone else will be able to provide a more complete list later.

14 October, 2000 – The Baltic Room, Seattle, WA

“The Jelly Doughnuts”

review by Neil
reprinted from the onewhiskey mailing list, with permission)

As I hinted yesterday, Mark, Mike, and Ben played at the Baltic Room last night (billed as The Jelly Doughnuts). I couldn’t be more specific yesterday because on Friday night, even Mark didn’t know what time it was supposed to start. It turned out to be an early show: Mike began his solo set at 7:30, and after a break, he came back with Mark and Ben at 9. It was a shorter show than the previous night, but every bit as enjoyable. I don’t remember exactly what they played (Debbi has the set list, so she’ll be able to tell us), but there was one song they hadn’t played Friday, which was listed as Deep Purple. Mark chain-smoked the whole time, and there was less chatter and clowning around than the night before. But they sounded great, and it was nice to see them in a small place.

17 October, 2000 – Cellar at Johnny Foley’s, San Francisco, CA

review by Leif
www.nebulamusic.com

Besides the Mariners losing, it was a great night. Mark Lanegan was amazing, he sounds like he smokes a case of cigarettes and drinks a case of whiskey each day. I was surprised because his voice was much deeper and more powerful than on any of his albums. All I can say is I hope he releases a live album sometime soon, because now I’m thinking the studio albums don’t quite do him justice.
It was great to see Mark, Mike, and Ben in such an intimate setting. They played mostly songs from the last album, the highlights for me were Carry Home and On Jesus’ Program. But they also managed to work in some older stuff like Mockingbirds, The Winding Sheet, Bell Black Ocean, Last One In The World, Slide Machine, and for the second encore they finally did River Rise (only song played from Whiskey).
One funny story from the show… it doesn’t stop many people, but it is illegal to smoke in bars in California – so for the first half hour of the show Mark was chewing gum like a maniac. Then Mike broke a string and Mark said “time for a cigarette” and headed quickly backstage. At that point he must have noticed that a couple people in the audience were smoking, so after a few minutes he came back out with his cigarette and said “I’ve been chewing this fucking Nicorette gum all night because I didn’t think I could smoke in here!”
It was an early show – Mike Johnson came on at 8:15 and the whole thing was done by 10:30. Which worked out great for us because Gammera was playing a short cab ride away at the Paradise Lounge so we got there in time to catch their entire set. So it was a full evening of music to say the least.
review by Jared

I walked down the stairs to the Cellar at Johnny Foley’s Irish Pub. It’s a small hallway of a bar about 20 feet wide and maybe 50 feet from back wall to stage. Earlier I sat at a dinner table upstairs near the band as they kept one eye on their plate and the other eye on the Yankees Mariners playoff game that loomed above. As the Yankees closed the gap I heard Mark yell, “Fuck” and get up and go outside for a smoke. Now in the cellar, Mark sat leaning over the bar watching every pitch. Between innings he would run to the back room no doubt to smoke another cigarette. Ben Shepherd came out and was noticeably tense watching the game. Mike was talking to some friends. As the crowd filled the room, Mark stayed out watching the game, creating a laid back atmosphere about the place. When it was clear the M’s had lost, they all disappeared behind the stage to get ready for the show. Mike Johnson came out first and played a solid set. His quiet simple rhythm guitar and worn bass voice set a low-key mood for the show. He performed an amazing version of Eclipse that made everyone silent, even those who have never heard the song before.
About a half hour later, Ben, Mike and Mark made the stage, three tall lumbering guys who sat immediately in an effort to fit into the place. Mark asked for the lights to be dimmed, and Ben wanted his guitar volume down a turn. The stage was lit a dark red and barely surrounded their figures. Mark started in with the chilling Carry Home, a song with no hook, but that can be listened to ceaselessly. The crowd was much quieter than other shows I have seen at this venue, usually a place conducive to talking during the show. Mark delivered all the numbers from the Portland show. His voice sounds stronger, healthier and Mike and Ben were very tight. The band was businesslike through the first few songs of the show. After Blues Run the Game, a better rendition than either Nick Drake’s or Simon and Garfunkel’s, I yelled out “Carnival!” A few people laughed, and Mark looked into the crowd like someone out there was crazy. Nevertheless, he went into Creeping Coastline…and continued on. The first break in the show occurred after Because of This about midway through. Mike broke a string during the song and started to replace it after it was done. Mark thought it would be a great time to smoke a cigarette. Everyone applauded as he jumped off the platform and ran backstage. He came back out two minutes later with a cigarette lit as Mike was all set, and they soldiered into Together Again. After that song he made his first informal interaction with the crowd. “I’ve been chewing that fucking Nicorette all night because I thought you couldn’t smoke in here. Fuck it.” He then followed with, “And the Mariners lost.” The crowd began to boo to appease his agony to which Mark responded, “Yeah, it’s bullshit.”
He continued the opening set with Deep Purple, and a fantastically intense version of On Jesus’ Program after which he shook his head and said, “Strange song.” He finished with Tomorrow Night, blowing away Elvis himself if I can say so. He came back out and did Mockingbirds, a wonderfully beautiful Last One in the World and The River Rise. Before he left the stage, he referred to a line from the last song and said, “That’s all I can do.” For an hour the Cellar was complete with a moody dark atmosphere and an intimate night with one of the best voices in the land.
review by Corey
I had a blast at this show, for I kept runnin’ into ol’ friends and ol’ crushes augmented by great singin’ and great songs. Mike did a sweet and short set which included ‘ECLIPSE’ (ten minutes of sorrowful joy) and an endearing cover of the BEE GEES ‘RUN TO ME’…
Mark did a generous helping of ‘I’LL TAKE CARE OF YOU’ tunes. Things started to get blurry for me after so many pints(thanks friends) The Yanks beat the Mariners at the end of Mike’s set. Mark got to smoke a cig. live onstage in concert in Califonia. That’s torture for us local gag-puffers, runnin in and out, smokin’ in the boy’s room etc.
The venue was a trip. SLIMS will book acts in other venues for whatever reason (for instance Noe Valley Ministry, which was picture perfect for the above dynamic duo), as for the cellar, this joint is located in the central downtown Union Square/Tenderloin district–choose your poison.( tourism vs. the dregs ) The downstairs vibe was of a greenich village basement gig talent show with a handful of confused british ex-pats in the back wondrin’ “what the fuck is this all ’bout”. Anyway the talent was the best. And so inspired am I by these fellows’ clean/sobre ways I’ve quit smoking. Thank you. PS great sound courtesy of Adam.